Naptime is No Longer Safe

Generally, I don't take naps - despite my fondness for sleep, I'm of the mind that napping is something only kids do. That having been said, when I'm feeling *really* tired, or just miserable, crawling into bed for a period ranging anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours during the middle of my waking period can be a lifesaver. Although in this case, it was sort of the opposite. That's right, just as Freddie Krueger comes for you anytime you nod off, no matter where or why or for how long, now Death too has descended upon naptime.

I've pretty much been sick for the past two months, since returning from the big trip. I've been even more miserable than usual the last couple days, though, as my coughing has recently gotten rather violent - and has at this point contributed to an unfortunate headache. Needless to say, I felt like lying down for a bit today as it was still early in my waking period and my head was already swimming (I love that expression, though I don't love the feeling). So I fell asleep for a good two and a half hours, only to wake up breathing rapidly from an exciting and harrowing dream. It wasn't quite as terrifying as the other "nightmares" I've had that pit me against Death, but I did get pret-ty close to death at the very end. Luckily, I just got up and the dream is still fairly fresh in my mind, so allow me to explain.

The setting is one of the shops over in the lot that's being consumed by the Walgreens that's scheduled to be built soon. But it's not any shop that I'm familiar with, and it was actually in one of the shop slots other than the ones I've spent lots of time in (which are closer to the road than the one I was in in my dream). Although, it was kind of coffee shop-ish, because there were a few of us (family/friend types) hanging out and chatting in the shop. But the lighting was brighter, and the atmosphere was more casual and less hip.

Anyway, there was this one guy, that I wish I could explain better, because there were other details about him that I don't remember, but I guess I can say he was the type that seemed nice and friendly but turned out to be...not. In any case, he was driving around the parking lot and I was sitting in the car with him, chatting about who knows what - I have no idea why, but that's how it was. As he drove close to the exit to the parking lot, I was about to ask him if he was actually /leaving/, since it wasn't /my/ intention to leave at that moment, but before I even asked, I was sort of 'dumped' out of the car. I don't know how exactly, if the guy pushed me out or I just got out voluntarily or what - I suppose it's one of those ambiguous dream details. At any rate, I found myself on the pavement watching the car drive away (and, indeed, leave the parking lot).

Unfortunately, there was a police car nearby, for some reason watching the car I just came out of (perhaps he knew what I would soon find out - that the guy in the car was actually a pretty mean character). I guess he maybe thought I had something to do with the guy, because he came straight for me, lights a-flashing, soon as I left the car. Then again, at the time, I didn't have any reason to believe he was coming for me for any other reason than I'm me. And cops tend to have it out for me. For no good reason. Although, did I mention that I was naked the whole time during this dream? I was, though I didn't *feel* naked - nobody seemed to notice or care (least of all myself).

Well I came to the conclusion that the cop was approaching me not because I was doing anything illegal but because he was just a corrupt and perverted cop (perhaps an even more frightening prospect). The thing that tipped me off was the way he instructed me to pose just before he was about to take my picture (for evidence...or something). I got the sense that this didn't feel like part of a cop's typical procedure. Lucky for me, in my dream I was a lot more straightforward than I really am, and I not only cursed at the cop, I even slapped or punched him (can't remember specifically). I was also lucky that instead of retaliating or being stubborn, the cop actually backed off. He drove away, and I went back to the shop where the others were. (This is really a pretty pointless detail, but I find it interesting that there was a grassy hill with a tree on top of it, right in the middle of the parking lot - which isn't the case in real life).

So somehow I find myself running from the guy from the car earlier. Apparently he's a psychotic murderer, and for some reason he's after me. It made more sense in the dream. I was pretty desperate at this point to hide, so I ran to the back of the shop and locked myself in the bathroom. There were some developments I don't clearly remember that had me back at the front of the shop, but it just ended up in me running back to the bathroom just as the psychotic murderer entered the shop. I slipped into the bathroom and locked the door, wondering if the murderer knew I was in there, and if not, how long it would take for him to find me. So I opened the bathroom window and slipped out into the alleyway between shops (still naked, by the way). At this point I had the instinctive feeling that the murderer was right on my tail, and that he'd kill me (or worse) the moment he caught me. So I stumbled through that window and climbed over some stuff, including a fence, as quickly as possible. I found myself in a yard and made a break for it, hoping I could throw the murderer off and find somewhere safe to hide (back home, maybe). This daring escape from the shop happened all so very quickly, and I awoke in the midst of it, still feeling the effects of the chase - breathing rapidly, as I mentioned above. It was quite exciting, indeed.